Sherman County Scavenger Hunt

Explorer-y Places to Find in Sherman County

All locations are on private property. Please treat everywhere you go with respect and do not trespass.

Site of Edson School

Edson School – High school closed in 1973 and the entire school closed in 1979. Classroom building is gone, but the gym (now a farm shop) and vocational shop (now a farm equipment shop) remain. The Edson Rockets’ gym was constructed in 1964. Grant Junior High played basketball in the gym until 2000.

Coordinates: 39.337333, -101.54375

Grant School, now Grant Historic Residences

Grant School — Grant School’s last days in education ended in 2015, but it is now the home of Grant Historic Residences. If the building is open for visitors, find the Mustangs’ trophy case in the main hall.

Coordinates: 39.34739, -101.71822

Ruleton School survived a tornado, but could not survive population declines.

Ruleton School — The Ruleton district built their schoolhouse in 1926-27. A tornado wrecked part of it June 8, 1941. Five months later, the community celebrated the school’s reopening. Sadly, the rebuilt school only saw two more graduating classes. Class of 1943 were the final Ruleton Bulldog graduates. The grade school remained open until 1965.

After its closure, a subsequent owner installed an overhead door in the building’s south side. Look for the unfinished opening.

Coordinates: 39.34175, -101.889367

Playground at Smoky Gardens

Playground at Soldiers Memorial Park/Smoky Gardens — Smoky Gardens Board members have worked hard over the years to improve the park. The playground equipment was retired from parks in Goodland, then restored. The equipment is now in use at the county park.

Coordinates: 39.188167, -101.7581

Dam at Soldiers Memorial Park

Soldiers Memorial Park/Smoky Gardens Dam — The original dam was built in the 1920s. Floods damaged it, but the final blow came in 1936. Sherman County built a second dam in 1975. The current county commissioners and park board are working to improve the dam.

Coordinates: 39.20117, -102.012267

Sign for Soldiers Memorial Park/Smoky Gardens

Soldiers Memorial County Park/Smoky Gardens — The park was originally named Smoky Gardens. In 1925-26, famous aviator Charles Lindbergh at least once offered $5 rides in his airplane. After floods destroyed Smoky Gardens, the county rebuilt the dam. The park became Soldiers Memorial, but locals still call it Smoky Gardens.

Coordinates: 39.34175, -101.889367

Ennis-Handy House — Contractor Fred Hunt built the Queen Anne-style home for Mary (Seaman) Ennis in 1907. The house passed through various owners until the Handy family bought it. After Edythe Handy passed away in 2000, Sherman County Historical Society purchased it and have turned it into a house museum.

Coordinates: 39.347012, -101.713134

Gulick House — Dr. A.C. Gulick built the home between 1888 and 1901. Dr. Gulick moved in in 1901 and lived there until his death in 1958. Rod Cooper of Crazy R’s Bar & Grill has restored the house.

Coordinates: 39.348047, -101.716124

The White Eagle Gas Station

White Eagle Gas Station —The station building was originally in Kanorado. Rod Cooper moved it to Goodland and restored it. Respectful people are welcome to walk the grounds and look inside the gas station windows.

Coordinates: 39.3417, -101.708967

Road sign and battlefield silhouettes

Kidder Massacre Site — The 1867 battle was the first recorded event in Sherman County. 2nd Lt. Lyman Kidder, 10 enlisted men and scout Red Bead died in combat with Native Americans.

Coordinates: 39.525844, -101.553359

Pleasant Home Church

Pleasant Home Church — The church’s history goes back to 1887. The current building is an old schoolhouse.

Coordinates: 39.424660, -101.484416

The Neu Centre

The Neu Centre — The building was originally two stories high and operated under the names Hotel Goodland and Hotel Esther. Herman Neu bought the building in 1914 and added a third floor. Currently, the building holds offices.

Kanorado School — The last Kanorado Bear class graduated in 1969. The grade school remained open until May 1983.

A later building owner tried to turn the building into a repair shop.

Coordinates: 39.337986, -102.039948

Marker honoring the first Catholic Church in Sherman County

First Catholic church in Sherman County — A small wooden church was Sherman County’s first Catholic place of worship. It was dedicated Jan. 1, 1890, and blew down in April 1890. Its altar survived the building’s destruction and was moved to the new Goodland church.

Heye and Etta Frerichs stone in Frerichs Cemetery

Frerichs Cemetery — In the days before antibiotics, many parents mourned the deaths of multiple children. Sherman County parents were no exception. The Frerichs Cemetery, used from 1886-1907, shows the grief childhood diseases inflicted upon families. It has numerous graves of small children. Recently, someone has been marking the graves in this cemetery, but the person’s identity is unknown.